Especially used in photovoltaic cells, very thin wafers, less than 0.3 mm thick, are cut from silicon blocks using wire saws. For this purpose, the wafer block is first glued to a supporting glass plate, which in turn is attached to a machine support board. A multitude of saw wires penetrate the wafer block simultaneously and cut down to the glass in the supporting glass plate. As a result, the individual wafers are only still secured at a glue joint that corresponds to the thickness of the wafer. The saw gap is maintained at this location. Because for the subsequent process it is necessary to keep the wafers continuously moist, the latter due to the liquid stick together in groups in areas away from the supporting glass plate. For subsequent processing, it is necessary to detach the wafers from the glue joint and to separate them. Mass production requires this process to be automated. The goal of every automated manufacturing process is to maintain an existing sequence and position.
In accordance with one device, which is known from DE 199 04 834 A1, the cut wafer block is kept submerged in liquid on a support arm of a lifting mechanism not in a hanging but in a horizontal lying position. In the process, the individual wafers at their free end tilt away from their horizontal position about the glue joint with the supporting glass plate, so that they stick to the wafer below them. If the wafers are separated from the supporting glass plate little by little, they encounter the wafer below them over their entire surface, which makes separating them even more difficult.